Schools set to help Grafton principal after house fire

Wednesday

Nov 21, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Elaine Thompson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The fire that destroyed a Blanchard Road home Monday night was likely caused by someone placing hot ashes from the fireplace into a plastic bucket in the garage, Fire Chief Michael Gauthier said yesterday.

“We had significant damage on the first and second floors. To me I think it’s a total loss,” Chief Gauthier said. “Fortunately nobody was hurt. It had the potential for a disaster because it was in the evening.”

Firefighters were called to 48 Blanchard Road at 10:08 p.m. The fire spread quickly from the garage to one end of the house to the other.

The Garrison Colonial, which has an assessed value of $457,500, has been owned by Bharat and Varsha Desai since 1994, according to the assessor’s office.

Varsha Desai is a former Shrewsbury teacher and for the past two years has been the principal at Millville Elementary School.

Kimberly Shaver-Hood, superintendent of the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District, said she was horrified when she read an email Mrs. Desai sent to her at 3:40 a.m. yesterday telling her about the fire.

“It’s horrible,” said Ms. Shaver-Hood. “I was just very grateful to hear everybody was safe.”

The Desais and the parents of one of them were in the home when the fire started. A daughter, who attends college, returned home after learning about the fire.

Ms. Shaver-Hood said that when she went to Millville Elementary School yesterday morning, the first thing that staff asked was how they could help Ms. Desai.

“She’s a wonderful principal … very caring. The students respect her kind demeanor. We’re very fortunate to have her,” said Ms. Shaver-Hood. “She has sent us numerous emails checking on the school. We say, ‘We’re doing well. You just take care of what you need to take care of.’ ”

She said staff throughout the district plan to do what they can to help the family.

“We’re kind of waiting for her lead as well as to what focus we should place our efforts on once she’s able to assess all the damage and provide us with the direction,” the superintendent said. “They need anything and everything. They’ve lost everything.”

Anyone who wants to help the family is asked to contact Ms. Shaver-Hood at (508) 876-0137.